19 Feb 2016 - United States:
Google claims it is not using personal student data for advertising

Following concerns raised by Senator Al Franken, member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, Google clarified in a public letter that it does not use students’ personal information to serve targeted advertisements. Google however acknowledged that it tracks data from students for other reasons such as developing and improving its products.

When students are signed into their Google Apps for Education account but are using other Google services such as Search, YouTube, Blogger or Maps, Google track their data. Nonetheless, the company made clear that it does not sell students’ data to third parties nor does it share students’ personal information except when schools ask the company to share the data, or the law requires it.

Senator Franken although pleased with the thorough answer from Google, also said that he will seek further clarification on how Google uses the information it collects when students are on other Google tools while logged in Google Apps for Education. He said : “I’m also still interested in whether or not Google can provide parents and students with stronger privacy protections—for example, by allowing students to ‘opt-in’ to data collection.”

In the USA, a large number of schools and universities, which represent around 30 million students and teachers, use Google’s Apps for Education. The company is under criticism from civil society organisations and is facing several lawsuits on is allegedly illegal scanning of students emails for commercial targeting. Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of those who filled a case against Google, commented that Google’s statement could mean that the company did target ads until recently but that it has since changed its practice.